by Anne Cassidy
She sat up and ran her fingers through her stiff, unfamiliar hair. Her glasses were resting on the letters and she picked them up and put them on. She didn’t need them in order to read but she might as well get used to using them. She plucked up the letters and held them for a moment. Then, sitting on the very edge of the bed, her back bent over, her elbows rigid, she unfolded the two pieces of paper.
Two letters from Frankie. The first dated a couple of weeks after her trip to Brighton; the second a week or so later. When Jill Newton handed them to her she’d told her to read them and get rid of them. Why hadn’t she? She honestly had no idea.
Dear Alice, they both said.
Kate stopped for a moment and whispered the words, Alice, Alice; the sound susurrating around the tiny room. It was a name that would always be with her, an echo from her past.
The letters went on, both similar in content, Frankie’s spidery writing growing larger in some places, the lines slanting down to the right.
I just want you to ring me. I’ve been a total prat and I just need to talk to you. We can talk about what happened in the past. Maybe we can get over it. Just ring me. I need to hear your voice.
I love you. I reacted badly that was all. I understand. People can change. I want you to know that my feelings haven’t changed, not deep down. I was just an idiot. Don’t give up on me. Just ring me. So that we can talk. . .
Kate folded the two pieces of paper up again and took her new glasses off. Poor Frankie. He thought he could make everything all right for Alice Tully.
But there was no such person as Alice Tully any more.
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd., 2004
Published in paperback by Scholastic Ltd., 2005
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd., 2012
Text copyright © Anne Cassidy, 2004
The right of Anne Cassidy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.
eISBN 978 1407 13315 7
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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